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https://blacknerdproblems.com/azuki-adds-new-manga-series-in-march-heres-a-quick-overview/

My favorite digital manga subscription service Azuki, home of my beloved My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files is adding four manga series from MediBang! to its library, part of their monthly new series additions. The four titles — MADMEN, Shokudama, Matching Our Answers, and Stairway to Love — are available now (including select free chapters) on the Azuki website and iOS and Android apps. Synopses from MediBang! for all four series are provided below:

MADMEN by Snowman Notes, distributed by MediBang:: Shin Baredo, a delusional MADMAN arrives at Tomido Citadel to get a job, but is chased by the Brokers instead. He is saved by Suisui, a terrorized female MADMAN, and her family. Will his employment as a MADMEN recruiter under Link Toy Family lead him to a better life? Or will reality betray him once again?

This looks like it will appeal to fans of: action packed pages, psychological narratives, weird but perhaps complex world building

Shokudama by Jun Fudo, distributed by MediBang: Shokudama is set in late Edo, a time when contemporary food culture began to develop. In a city full of merchants and townsmen, Himura Tamanosuke, a freelance guardian handy with a sword, lives frivolously with his two younger siblings. One night, he’s visited by the Souls of Food demanding he help them return to Nirvana… 

This looks like it will appeal to fans of: historical manga, cooking/food themed manga, goofy protagonists, and bizarre stories

Matching Our Answers by Hikaru Murayoshi, distributed by MediBang: On that night he was driven out to the street, Ritsuya met his eternal admiration, Mayato. It was just a short meeting, but these two boys in pain finally found the best comfort on each other, sealing their bond for the years after. But, how would they survive in the world of irresponsible adults?

This looks like it will appeal to fans of: highly stylized artwork, childhood friends, slice of life BL, lot of DRAMA

Stairway to Love by Sachi Murakami, distributed by MediBang: Azumi Sasakawa is a proud bottom that has a side job as gay bar bartender. Currently, he only has a casual relationship with Kashima, a handsome interior designer but his interest is actually a patron from neighbor design office, Tomoki Konno. Tomoki was always a bit anti-social and would not even take the same elevator with other customers, moreover, his weak posture invokes Azumi’s “motherly” instinct. After an unexpected conversation with the little guy, Azumi assumes Tomoki is cold to him because he is homophobic. Until one night, he met with Tomoki again in Kashima’s doorstep… What would happen between these three? Stairway to Love is another heartwarming mature “Boys Love” by the fluff goddess Sachi Murakami.

This looks like it will appeal to fans of: more mature BL, layered storytelling, Sachi Murakami manga!!!

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Azuki is available on the web at www.azuki.co and in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. The app features 300 manga series, including international hits like Attack on Titan, Fire Force, and A Silent Voice. Azuki also publishes acclaimed new series like Mecha-Ude: Mechanical Arms, Natsume & Natsume, and My Dear Detective: Mitsuko’s Case Files, with weekly new chapters available exclusively via the Azuki app.

Start reading for free today with advertisements, or upgrade to Premium and access the full Premium catalog featuring thousands of chapters for just $4.99 a month. A 14-day free trial and discounted annual plan are also available, and additional volumes outside the subscription can be purchased via direct volume sales (Premium members get 20% off all volumes). Most titles are available worldwide (except Japan). Stay up to date on the latest announcements by following Azuki at x.com/ReadAzuki, facebook.com/ReadAzuki, and instagram.com/readazuki.

About Azuki and KiraKira Media Inc.

Azuki is created by KiraKira Media Inc., a proudly employee-owned company dedicated to improving access to legally licensed manga, led by a small team of passionate manga fans and tech experts in San Francisco, CA.

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The post Azuki Adds New Manga Series in March, Here’s a Quick Overview appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/why-you-should-be-reading-auto-biographical-manga/

In recent years, manga publishers have tapped into licensing, translating, and releasing more manga in the auto-biographical genre. 

From the success and honest longevity of Nagata Kabi’s work (My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, My Alcoholic Escape from Reality, and more) to autobiographical titles and series of manga creators and their journeys of appreciating art and work like of Akiko Higashimura and Junji Ito, auto-bio manga continues to make waves and is here to stay! 

Here is what I hope is an explorative piece elaborating on an underrated genre of manga that in recent years has emphasized spreading awareness on mental health and social issues as well as being a genre that allows female and gender expansive, & LGBTQIA+ voices to shine!

Note: There’s some older manga titles that I considered including yet as I always do in my manga write ups and editorials try not to include too many out of print and series that will run you your coin or force you to grumble on what’s not super accessible to read today. (In recent years, there has been new life and printing runs thanks to digital licenses and new found interest in certain titles and mangaka’s work. That doesn’t apply to every book or series, sadly)

Could Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga (Sweet Jesus, what a title) by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma possibly find a place here in this editorial, theme wise? I haven’t read it but, possibly yes. Am I sending you to the bad rainforest store (talking about Amazon, beloved) to buy it as it is out of print and standing at a hundred and seventy-five dollars as of today? No, beloved.

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Manga Artist Making Auto-Bio Manga About Their Craft and Lives

Perhaps best known in the West for her debut into the English Language market: Princess Jellyfish, Akiko Highashumura’s third translated series, titled Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey is a short manga series that chronicles her journey to the artist that she is today. High school aged Akiko has big plans to become a popular mangaka and be known for the best Shojo and win all the awards and acclaim. Her big plans include getting a hit before she even graduates (I cannot knock the ambition), but little does she know she needs to actually work hard at her dream and learn the basics of art. With an unconventional art teacher guiding her, this series chronicled Higashimura’s earlier life into who she is now and is one that I reread once a year.

Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey absolutely falls into the auto-biographical manga category and yet I’d describe it as part coming of age, part drama, and hilarious comedic timing again and again that is Highashumura’s trademark style. I really hold this manga series in such high esteem as I believe this series serves as an brilliant, illustrative example of what memoir looks like in manga form. As this is one of my favorite mangaka of the 2010’s (when I was first introduced to her work), I love that I get to read about the start of Higashimura’s career, and her unusual way that she got there–going to art school producing paintings and sculptures. Chapters where the younger artist is fretting about art school exams, not having work after graduating, getting into the swing of things as a newbie mangaka all make curious and engaging milestones to read and pour over.

Yoshihiro Tatsumi needs to also be mentioned if we’re speaking about manga, the work of an artist and autobiography as well. He belongs to an era of older mangaka and may not be super familiar with younger readers or those newer to manga. Draw & Quarterly, the English language publisher of his A Drifting Life–presents it as the epic autobiography of a manga master at some 800 pages best describe him as someone who “followed in the footsteps of his idol, the manga artist Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Apollo’s Song, Ode to Kirihito, Buddha)—with whom Tatsumi eventually became a peer and, at times, a stylistic rival.”  

This huge tome is one that has been on my list to read for a while and appears to serve as an autobiography of the mangaka’s life during the years of 1945 to 1960 in a post Hiroshima Japan. It has been recommended to those who want to know more about the artist personally and how those years shaped the manga he created and also a great work for those who want to learn more about manga history. I read through a number of reviews of A Drifting Life (well awarded, winning not just The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize but also two Eisners: Best Reality-Based Work  and Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Asia ) that throw flak on the autobiography connection, dismiss that this is not his best work and take offense of the Western’s perceived overlapping connection of Tezuka’s influence–all intriguing to read and hold on to until I finally get a chance to read it for my own.

Some autobiographical manga focuses on the manga creator’s life before, like in Kazuto Tatsuta’s Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.  Tatsuta was an artist who signed onto the dangerous task of cleaning up the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, which the workers came to call “Ichi-F.” The publisher added this quote form the mangaka to the to the books listing: “I drew this manga because I wanted people to see what day-to-day life at the nuclear power plant is like. Because I believe that’s essential to the future of our country.” A single volume, self-contained work of several hundred pages that I am still reading through, I found myself stunned by this insider view into what was perhaps then the costliest natural disaster in human history and one that impacted Japan as a country greatly. Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is important to the auto-biographical manga genre as its value as journalistic comics sits in a place where I cannot line up many like it. The work that Tatsuta ended up creating challenges not just how the world sees nuclear power but how camaraderie and country-hood play in some individuals’ desire to change the world, or in this case help clean it up.

Other autobiographical manga focuses on the manga creator’s life and the harrowing and hilarious tales that they end up documenting for us to read. In master of Japanese horror manga Junji Ito’s case, his manga diary about the pets cats in his life is a thrilling treat. The publisher of  Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu  adds that the mangaka “presents a series of hissterical tales chronicling his real-life trials and tribulations of becoming a cat owner.” This was such a fun manga to read through in Juni Ito’s trademark creepy style but wholesome with lots of gags and funny moments. The manga follows the mangaka and his wife who, after buying a new house, bring home not only her cat from her parents’ home but another cat from a cat show.

The two cats: Yon, a cat with a creepy pattern of spots on his back, and Mu, an super cute but bitey Norwegian forest cat are the stars of the show with Ito attempting time and time again to gain their affections. What I wasn’t expecting were the tidbits of information about Ito–referred to as J-kun by his wife Ayako also referred to as A-ko in the manga: learning about what he does outside of work in his community and also one of his past professions before choosing manga entirely was interesting. Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu goes on to include some bonus commentary manga comic about the couple’s later years with the cats that was created as contributions for cat shelters in 2011. The added content from the couple gives us more time with the cats, the titular characters of this show and some closure with what their feline lives meant to their owners.

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A Genre that Shines for Female, Gender Expansive & LGBTQIA+ Voices

Gosh, how can I write about auto-bio graphical without mentioning Nagata Kabi’s work and this mangaka’s contribution not just to this genre but to the world of manga? Kabi is best known for her brutally honest accounts of her life via manga where she shares auto-biographical tales. Starting with My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, she introduces herself as twenty-eight years old, who has never dated anyone, had sex with anyone. She also has no confidence, no real job experience, and no real direction in life. In that volume, her diary comics are a candid look at not just struggles with depression and understanding her sexuality but also her failures of adulthood. In the sequel, My Solo Exchange Diary, Kabi continues in her quest for self-acceptance and love.

Nagata Kabi’s manga shares her extremely awkward, conflicted, and questioning nature as she stumbles yet continues to attempt to make sense of her life. She documented an eating disorder, self-harm, her bout with alcoholism, serious hospitalizations, and her efforts for better health during a global pandemic. Her work, while awarded and acclaimed, is not held in great regard by everyone–there are readers that see her as irresponsible and someone who self-sabotages her life, making her a terrible role model. 

I will admit, as a fan, that Kabi’s work is hard to read through, at times. As the youth say, she has been on the struggle bus. She hasn’t always followed up, been consistent, or made the best decisions and yet she keeps trying. It is admirable to see the fruits of her manga show how utterly human and flawed she is and still do her best to get up and attempt to make sense of it. My favorite manga of hers is My Wandering Warrior Existence. I must admit it is also the easiest of her work to read and digest. In my humble opinion, it is the volume of manga of her work that I also feel that she feels the most whole and has more wins. In this title, the author embarks on a journey to get a grip on the love and happiness she desires so much in her life. 

This desire comes to her after attending a friend’s wedding and she realizes that she wants one of her own–even though she had no dating experience and very limited sexual experience. (Remember the lovely lesbian escort service?) I appreciate My Wandering Warrior Existence, as Kabi dives into sexual preference, attraction, societal demands of women, and more. She interrogates not just herself but what she really wants out of life which is to be happy and in some way making manga is what gets her there. Nagata Kabi’s manga exposes her life to the reader, yet it also manages to show the imperfections and vulnerabilities of her life that make her manga uniquely hers and hers alone. 

Rikako Nikaido‘s short work here absolutely deals with mental health and could very well be included in the third and final section of this piece. Yet, the elaboration of a young woman who deals with mania (bipolar depression) and how everything from her relationships to men and her way of masking feels very gender specific with how she navigated those crises as a woman. At only forty five pages, How My Low Self-Esteem Got the Best of Me elaborates on the pressures she felt from the men she was romantically involved in, her family, and even society at large regarding her womanhood. She grew up with eczema, a skin condition, and experienced bullying, misogyny, and even abuse before having a meltdown.

The mangaka’s story in How My Low Self-Esteem Got the Best of Me of finding a healthy balance of maintaining her mental health and learning to love herself: her mind and her body could speak universally to women everywhere. Nikaido‘s short manga also speaks to women who seek to or are rebuilding their lives after great trauma and crises and want a glimpse of another woman who is in the process of doing so with hope. I think what comes across so loud and in so much detail in this auto-bio manga is how often women and their mental health are failed. The author learned at an early age what it felt like to be at the mercy of others when you fail to meet beauty standards, learned how to decently meet them, and then weaponized that knowledge to also stand above others.

Later, in How My Low Self-Esteem Got the Best of Me a romantic relationship with a man who coerced Nikaido into some actions that changed her and left her in a vulnerable state. This changed her relationship with her loved ones. Coming to grips with how bad she had been treated yet also how bad she had treated other women made her start seeking to change little by little. By the end of the short manga: she speaks in more detail on how focusing on herself, not comparing herself to others, and being mindful of pitfalls like being attached to men who she knows are no good. 

The Girl Who Can’t Get a Girlfriend was Mieri Hiranishi’s debut into making manga as an autobiographical journey about one lesbian mangaka’s search for a hot, short-haired girlfriend. When I first picked it up last year, I thought it was a refreshing take on a queer woman figuring out who she is and making an effort to acknowledge that romanticizing others and relationships gets her nowhere. Coming back to it, I love that it contains multitudes: comedic parts, otaku references, meme-y content, lots of cringe, and self-reflection. Hiranishi’s work here is an honest and vulnerable look at her life that we don’t always see in more mainstream comics here in the West and yet is so fun to read. I also adore this title for showing how a mangaka might debut into the more modern age of the industry and how they continue to work and create manga.

The Bride Was a Boy, created by the artist and mangaka known as Chii, may have been the first manga that I can point to that I read that was created by a trans person. The creator published during Pride Month in June a handful of years ago, The Bride is a Boy is an eye opener for marriage rights and the laws for LGBTQIA folks in Japan at that time. As so many stories about trans folks are tragic and steeped in terrible, harmful stereotypes, this manga about a transgender woman and her experiences leading up to her wedding is a comedic and honest upbeat read that I was sorry that I didn’t read immediately when it was published.

Drawn in the style of diary comics, The Bride Was a Boy follows the mangaka early life before and after their transitioning. I really do appreciate all the little “A Little Explanation” pages through the volume where Chii adds additional information like explaining the Japanese names and equivalents for LGBT in Japan. I was thankful for all the notes on what terminology is could be seen as harmful and outdated as well. Cultural change comes as in another explanation page the author elaborates on how in her life before she transitioned, as a teen boy reading about Gender Identity Disorder (GID) gave some understanding but not totally.

Later Gender Dysphoria was adopted as terminology and in gender affirming care which was a positive step for folks like the mangaka.  Chii is sure to recount her life and not pigeonhole herself or those who are also trans–she respectfully notes in each chapter that how she felt or what she liked wasn’t and isn’t the same across the board for all trans folks or even all those questioning their bodies or gender identities. Overall, The Bride Was a Boy is such a heartwarming and educational manga: especially with Chii being surrounded with a supportive family, a loving significant other that she would go on to marry and the safety, money, and legal grounds in Japan to become the person she wanted to be.

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A Genre that Shines for Spotlighting Health Issues, Mental Health Awareness & Other Social Issues

I first picked up Hilnama’s I’m a Terminal Cancer Patient, but I’m Fine a while ago. It was a weird emotional space that I was in as I picked up this volume of manga as it was around the time I was reading Fumi Yoshinaga’s long running Ōoku: The Inner Chamber and finally had the final volume of the series in my hands. One story was ending and this mangaka real life was one that she was fighting to keep against all odds. This single volume of manga follows Hilnama, an erotic manga artist, who starts feeling off one day, after much confusion and by a stroke of luck she is diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. She decided to start treatment with a positive outlook on life despite the terminal diagnosis and starts documenting and sharing her life as becomes a patient.

Ultimately, I wrote that I’m a Terminal Cancer Patient, But I’m Fine is the work of someone with cancer who decided to chronicle her days as a survivor with perseverance doing what she loved. It is a manga that presents an artist’s work as a life-line to what gave their life meaning and kept them going. Mangaka Hilnama’s work is also a great example of not just spreading awareness of cancer but of with education of treatment and how to be better and more mindful to those going through treatment. This is a manga that I come back to when I need to be reminded of the scarcity of choice we have in our lives when we’re told that we don’t have any.

Learning about the mangaka’s support system, the different types of workers in the healthcare industry, and the depths that the doctors and surgeons went for her are all enlightening parts of her story and make me appreciate the level of detail she added. Even the heavier parts of the story in I’m a Terminal Cancer Patient, But I’m Fine like the ways the author had to protect herself that are hard to read are important and will be needed for a reader who may find themselves in the same or similar situation. What I best remember as a message from the artist is to keep living–keep living life as normally as you can in the capacity that you can. Life will end for everyone one day, so live what days you have left! Hilnama’s manga is another great example of female written memoirs in manga that I hold as important in my heart and on my bookshelf.

Poppy Pesuyama’s two volume series, Until I Love Myself is an autobiographical manga series that retells the mangaka’s brave story about confronting the traumas of workplace harassment and the sexual harassment done to them. The author also details their life and the gender dysphoria that followed them as they worked to come to terms with who they are and what happened to them. Until I Love Myself is a hard hitting but necessary read of what manga industry and related creative workplaces need to work on: protecting those creatives regardless of gender from perpetrators lest we might possibly lose such amazing talents like Pesuyama.

So much of Until I Love Myself is hard to read and full of content warnings like PTSD and repeated boundary violations. This series does a superb job in including the realistic and awful reality that so often the people who are perpetrators do the harm that they do, because…they can. Those who are harmed may look for closure and apologies and in Pesuyama’s case, they did not receive what they had been expecting. Sometimes, the hard truth, lack of remorse, desired apology, or retribution does not pan out the way that the person wronged expects. Healing comes in different ways and the mangaka Pesuyama’s comes in this manga series. This series may not be for everyone, yet I am immensely grateful for this mangaka’s work, sharing their story not just for recovery purposes but to also show anyone else in a similar position that there’s life beyond abuse and the lack of self-love and confidence to fight back for themselves.

Here’s a title that is on my to-read list, yet I have read enough to know this manga is also on the dark side: Hideo Azuma‘s Disappearance Diary. Dealing with addiction, alcoholism, relapsing, homelessness, and suicidal ideation, this single volume of manga follows the mangaka in the late 1980s when he left his family and work and tried to end his life on a mountain. This is the autobiographical account of his fall into alcoholism after working in the manga industry in the 70s and 80’s and…disappearing for a while. This work covers three periods of his life where the pressures of life lead him to leave where he was in life.

Originally a manga artist who dealt in comedic genres, (also…this was how I was to discover that Hideo Azuma was the father of a genre of manga that I’d never suggest for you to google. Screaming forever, thanks!) I’ve read a few reviews that Azuma’s fight about his own self-sabotage and his “eventual recovery takes painful experiences from the darkest reaches of his mind and treats them with an overriding sense of a cartoonist’s humor,” as noted by the publisher. Through Azuma’s work, I think Disappearance Diary really flexes its muscles on finding sense of the mess of one’s life, the importance of mental health and finding joys and humor in where life takes you.

Ending with a manga essay anthology that I haven’t found time to finish, My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders is a single volume of auto-bio manga not to be missed. Following the true stories of nine people (including the illustrator) as they navigate life with developmental disorders and disabilities. The first manga short by the mangaka Monzusu centers on her son who had been recently diagnosed with ADHD, which led to her diagnosis as an adult. This experience in her family life lead to the events that would later led her to the making of this volume of manga. Monszusu goes on to illustrate and script eight other stories of others like another parent-child duo learning about their diagnoses and another individual whose life is changed for the better with the help of medication.

My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders helps remind me of the power of manga: being a medium, being a format for stories of the forgotten, the ignored–of those looking for more representation. I cannot name many mainstream comics that center and display the neurodivergent community in more positive and educating lights. A good chunk of these stories show adults with late diagnosis which is empowering as we’ve seen a rise of diagnoses spike among adults (and children) via the pandemic years. I can see this manga being read and shared by my neurospicy friends who love manga but also anyone who ever wanted to read more about folks on the spectrum, in gray areas of developmental disorders, folks with learning disorders, and more. Monzusu’s auto-bio manga here perhaps best illustrates the diverse anxieties of the real-life people she interviewed (and herself) in finding self-empowerment and the tools needed in a world not quite built with them in mind.

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So there you have it: a long enough account of why auto-biographical manga is an underrated genre of manga.

In recent years, manga publishers have jumped on the licensing, translating, and printing of more and more auto-bio manga yet I think we can always have more.

I really enjoy this genre of manga for being one that mangaka thrive in sharing their craft and their lives.

It is also an genre of manga that greatly emphasizes spotlighting health issues, mental health awareness and other social issues as well.

Lastly, as being a genre that allows female and gender expansive & LGBTQIA+ voices to shine, we keep being introduced to more mangaka with unique stories and bodies of work. I love auto-biographical manga and want you, too, to find someone’s manga to get lost in, be entertained by, have divisive feelings about, get educated on, find some common ground, or some other way that you are represented on the page.

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The post Why You Should Be Reading Auto-Biographical Manga appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://www.essence.com/awards-events/55th-naacp-image-awards-winners/

Photo by Unique Nicole/WireImage By Okla Jones ·Updated March 17, 2024

Hosted by the legendary Queen Latifah, the 55th NAACP Image Awards highlighted the achievements of entertainers and writers of color this past year. The star-studded ceremony was held at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, marking a big night for R&B icon Usher, and the cast for 2023’s The Color Purple.

The show began with Latifah receiving a call from Vice President Kamala Harris, followed by an amazing monologue by the host, as she celebrated the Black people who excelled in their individual fields. In what was a powerful moment, Taraji P. Henson—who grabbed the evening’s first award—spoke out about equal pay for Black actresses, and continued to advocate for honesty in her industry.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Queen Latifah speaks onstage during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“It’s a scary thing to speak your truth, but I urge you all to speak your truth because at the end of the day, that’s all we have,” Henson said. “The truth will set you free, and, not only that, it will set someone else free.”

Overall, The Color Purple earned 11 NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, an Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture win for Fantasia Barrino, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Colman Domingo, and several others. Barrino, who starred as Celie in the film, gave a stirring acceptance speech, thanking God for the opportunity. “I didn’t prepare a speech, because I didn’t think I was going to win,” she said. “I was afraid to play Celie, but I’m glad I did. Because I kept saying, ‘If I don’t win an award, the awards that I will win will come from the people who watched Color Purple and the women who will relate to her and feel like Oscars when they walk out.’”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: (L-R) Fantasia Barrino, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks, Scott Sanders, Taraji P. Henson, Rebecca Walker and Aba Arthur accept the Outstanding Motion Picture award for “The Color Purple” onstage during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

During the film and television segment of the evening, Abbott Elementary, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Chlöe Bailey, Ayo Edebiri, and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder also grabbed awards. Damson Idris won Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his powerful performance in FX’s Snowfall. In his speech, he spoke about bringing honor to his family, as well as his gratitude to be standing among the creatives who make “art for the past, present and future.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Damson Idris, winner of the Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series award for “Snowfall,” poses in the press room during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Unique Nicole/WireImage)

Andra Day performed during the “In Memoriam” part of the show, and Amanda Gorman was recognized with the Chairman’s Award, delivering a poem as she accepted her honor. “We have birthed this nation — become visible, indivisible and vibrant in our fight even as we win it,” she said. “We cannot just possess a vision of justice. We must be able to picture ourselves within it. It’s how we honor our ancestors and more it’s how we inspire our successors.”

“We’ve always had windows into the world but at last the world has windows into us,” she added. “We have mirrors of our past, our present, our possibility and all the future that we share. May we see all that we could be if we dare.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: (L-R) Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell of New Edition, recipients of the Hall of Fame Award, pose in the press room during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

New Edition was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame. The Grammy-nominated group includes Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, Ronnie DeVoe and Ricky Bell. Accepting the honor, Bivins said “You’ve seen our story. You know what we’ve been through,” he said, just weeks after the news that the group will have an exclusive residency in Las Vegas. “But we call each other every day. We text each other every day. We check on our families. You watched us grow up. We’re still growing.”

In the music categories, singer/songwriter Victoria Monét received the award for Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Album for Jaguar II, H.E.R. won for Outstanding Female Artist, and Megan Thee Stallion took home the award for Outstanding Hip-Hop/Rap Song with “Cobra.” Usher won Entertainer of the Year, which was presented by Oprah Winfrey. Earlier in the evening, the “Confessions” singer received the President’s Award, where he thanked his mother, New Edition, his wife, fellow nominees, and his family.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: Usher accepts the Entertainer of the Year award onstage during the 55th Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“My heart is beating really, really fast, but it’s good. It beats with passion,” Usher said during his speech. “I’m very, very honored to receive this amazing award from the depths of my soul.”

Take a look at the full list of winners below.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Usher

Outstanding Motion Picture 

The Color Purple

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture 

Colman Domingo – Rustin

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture 

Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture 

Colman Domingo – The Color Purple

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture 

Taraji P. Henson – The Color Purple

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture 

Brother

Outstanding International Motion Picture 

Brother

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture 

Phylicia Pearl Mpasi – The Color Purple

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture 

The Color Purple 

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture 

Spider–Man: Across the Spider–Verse

Outstanding Character Voice–Over Performance (Motion Picture) 

Issa Rae – Spider–Man: Across the Spider–Verse

Outstanding Short–Form (Live Action) 

The After 

Outstanding Short–Form (Animated) 

Lil’ Ruby

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture) 

Blitz Bazawule – The Color Purple

Outstanding Youth Performance in a Motion Picture

Mila Davis–Kent – Creed III

Outstanding Cinematography in a Feature Film

Eric K. Yue – A Thousand and One

Outstanding Comedy Series 

Abbott Elementary 

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series

Mike Epps – The Upshaws

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series 

Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 

William Stanford Davis – Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series 

Ayo Edebiri – The Bear

Outstanding Drama Series 

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series 

Damson Idris – Snowfall

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series 

India Ria Amarteifio – Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 

Adrian Holmes – Bel–Air

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 

Gail Bean – Snowfall

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special 

Swarm

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special 

Keith Powers – The Perfect Find

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special 

Chlöe Bailey – Praise This

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special 

Don Cheadle – Secret Invasion

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special 

Phylicia Rashad – Heaven Down Here

Outstanding News/Information (Series or Special) 

20/20 – Kerry Washington: Thicker Than Water – A Conversation with Robin Roberts

Outstanding Talk Series

The Jennifer Hudson Show

Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series)

Wild ‘N Out

Outstanding Variety Show (Series or Special) 

A Black Lady Sketch Show

Outstanding Children’s Program

Gracie’s Corner

Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited–Series)

Leah Sava Jeffries – Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/Information (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble

Sherri Shepherd – Sherri

Outstanding Host in a Reality/Reality Competition, Game Show or Variety (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble

DC Young Fly – Celebrity Squares

Outstanding Guest Performance

Michael B. Jordan – Saturday Night Live 

Outstanding Animated Series

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

Outstanding Character Voice–Over Performance (Television) 

Kyla Pratt – The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

Outstanding Performance in a Short-Form Series

Leslie Jones – After the Cut–The Daily Show

Outstanding Short-Form Series – Comedy or Drama

Doggyland

Outstanding Short-Form Series – Reality/Nonfiction

I Was A Soul Train Dancer

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television) 

Michelle Buteau – Survival of the Thickest

Outstanding New Artist

Victoria Monét

Outstanding Male Artist

Usher

Outstanding Female Artist

H.E.R.

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album

Father’s Day – Kirk Franklin

Outstanding International Song

“Me & U” – Tems

Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album

“Sensational” – Chris Brown feat. Davido & Lojay

Outstanding Album

Jaguar II – Victoria Monét

Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album

The Color Purple–Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song

“All Yours” – Kierra Sheard feat. Anthony Brown

Outstanding Jazz Album

Brand New Life – Brandee Younger 

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song

“ICU Remix” – Coco Jones feat. Justin Timberlake

Outstanding Hip-Hop/Rap Song

“Cobra” – Megan Thee Stallion

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional)

Ciara feat. Chris Brown – “How We Roll”

Outstanding Original Score for TV/Film

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – Jongnic Bontemps

Outstanding Documentary (Film)

Invisible Beauty

Outstanding Documentary (Television)

High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America

Outstanding Short-Form Documentary

Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

Norman Vance, Jr. – Saturdays

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Carla Banks–Waddles – Bel–Air

Outstanding Writing in a Television Movie or Special

Dwayne Johnson–Cochran – Heist 88 

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture

Cord Jefferson – American Fiction

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

Neema Barnette – Grand Crew

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

Dawn Wilkinson – Power Book II: Ghost

Outstanding Directing in a Television Movie or Special

Chris Robinson – Shooting Stars

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture

Ava DuVernay – Origin

Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture)

Allen Hughes – Dear Mama 

Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction

Family Lore – Elizabeth Acevedo

Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction

The New Brownies’ Book: A Love Letter to Black Families – Karida L. Brown, Charly Palmer

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author

Rootless – Krystle Zara Appiah

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography

Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement – Dr. Tanisha C. Ford – WINNER

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional

Historically Black Phrases: From “I Ain’t One of Your Lil’ Friends” to “Who All Gon” Be There?” – Jarett Hill, Tre’vell Anderson

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry

suddenly we – Evie Shockley

Outstanding Literary Work – Children

CROWNED: Magical Folk and Fairy Tales from the Diaspora – Kahran Bethencourt

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens

Everyone’s Thinking It – Aleema Omotoni

Outstanding Graphic Novel

The Talk – Darrin Bell

Outstanding News and Information Podcast

Holding Court with Eboni K. Williams

Outstanding Lifestyle/Self-Help Podcast

Black Money Tree

Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast

The 85 South Show with Karlous Miller, DC Young Fly and Chico Bean

Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast

Here’s The Thing

Outstanding Scripted Series Podcast

Yes We Cannabis

Outstanding Podcast – Limited Series/Short-Form

Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast  – WINNER

Outstanding Costume Design (Television or Film)

Francine Jamison–Tanchuck –The Color Purple

Outstanding Make-up (Television or Film)

Carol Rasheed, Saisha Beecham, Ngozi Olandu Young, Manny Davila, Milene Melendez –The Color Purple

Outstanding Hairstyling (Television or Film) 

Lawrence Davis, Tym Wallace, Andrea Mona Bowen, Angela Renae Dyson, Jorge Benitez Villalobos – The Color Purple

Outstanding Stunt Ensemble (TV or Film)

Creed III – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR NOMINEES  

Angel Laketa Moore

The post Usher And ‘The Color Purple’ Win Big At The 55th NAACP Image Awards appeared first on Essence.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/georgia-debut-first-waterslide-coaster-lake-lanier/

State officials gathered together on Wednesday, March 13, for a steel-signing ceremony in celebration of the first–ever waterslide coaster in Georgia at Lanier Islands, Access WDUN reported. Their signatures on the ceremonial steel beam serve as a “good luck” on the remainder of the construction.

It’s a fast turnaround for the Apocalypso waterslide complex, situated within the newly revamped Fins Up! Falls at Lanier Islands. After beginning construction last month, the waterslide coaster is slated to open during the water park’s 2024 spring/summer season.

“I can’t think of a more appropriate thing, with the 62 years of history at this lake, to add Georgia’s largest water complex on Georgia’s largest lake,” Charles Burton, Executive Director of Lanier Islands Developmental Authority said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

Waterslide coasters are different from traditional waterslides in that they offer increased velocity, sharp turns, thrilling drops, and unique features that propel riders upwards rather than solely downwards. The Apocalypso is expected to extend over 418 feet and boast one of the most substantial drops of its caliber in the United States.

In addition to the waterslide coaster, Fins Up! Falls will also offer three additional water slides attached to the same tower to give parkgoers some variety to choose from. Slides include Serpentine Storm, which merges the high-banking rotations of a bowl with the rapid descent of a downward-spiraling flume, Dreamsicle Dive serves as a traditional closed and open tube waterslide experience, and Mago Mania will cater to guests seeking a lower-intensity waterslide experience with its aqua tube design that offers diverse slopes and slide paths.

Other features coming to the waterpark include a floating obstacle course, a floating lakeside buffer to offer easy access to the lake, and a cabana program offering VIP sections along the wave pool and beach. This is on top of the 11 waterslides and aquatic attractions the park already provides, including LandShark Landing, Camp Margaritaville, and License to Chill Snow Island.

“Our core purpose is to create happy places that make smiling faces,” Dale Kaetzel, President of Go Outdoors said. “And I can’t think of any better place to do that than right here at Lake Lanier Islands.”

The waterpark’s expansion comes despite the haunted tales and deaths that surround Lake Lanier. Reports show over 200 people have died at Lake Lanier between 1994 and 2022, with most of the deaths attributed to drownings.

In 2023, there were 39 reported drownings at Lake Lanier. The history of the lake includes displaced cemeteries and unmarked graves which have fueled rumors of the lake being haunted.